After the first two exciting days of CIY Move, I don’t think I am alone in saying that all of us were pretty tired getting up for an early breakfast this morning. This being my second time at Move, I knew that we would have to set several alarms in order to get ourselves up and out of bed.

After grabbing a quick breakfast, and running back to the dorm, we all headed down to the field house for our morning session lead by Mark Christian. The theme of today was Believe/Deny, which brought with it many great discussions. One point he made during this time was that doubts are not a threat to faith, rather, they serve to strengthen you when you come across them. My favorite point from the morning that has stuck with me is that “He didn’t save you and love you so you would be perfect, he saved you so you would be His.”

After the morning session we all headed back to a time of selah- stopping to pause and reflect- before having small group time. Having a small group filled with people that care about you and that you know has really been very influential in my life. This year I was faced with a bit of a challenge as I am the only upcoming senior girl at the Union campus and so I was pushed to be apart of another small group. I am incredibly grateful to those girls, they have made me feel very welcome and I have made many new friends this year through them and their inclusive hearts.

After small group we headed to lunch to grab a bite to eat before heading to watch a Life In Contrast video. At lunch however we got to meet another amazing leader from Ireland, Jasper, who is doing amazing work in Ireland to create CIY events over there.

The Life In Contrast video was interesting to watch from the perspective of a new high school senior, these were examples of real people in their various professions living lives of kingdom work. It was nice to see examples of people that are living what they proclaim as true, and that it is possible to do that in whatever life may bring.

One part about MOVE that all the kids love is the opportunity to go into downtown Holland and to shop during the free time. From the two popular coffee shops, to the Cherry Republic, the countless Michigan merchandise stores, there is no shortage of things to do in this lovely little town.

In the evening session we had a female speaker, Katie Quesada. Her message was very empowering, it was a call to action in teaching us all to remain in God. In high school there are many different trials that we face, yet she taught that it was okay to doubt. God puts us in situations that we may not understand, but if we dedicate ourselves, doubt well, depend on our community and the relationships we’ve made, and are obedient then we will be able to remain in Him and live the lives he desires for us.

In the worship following the message, looking around the room and seeing nearly two thousand people singing

“I surrender, I surrender, Oh it’s everything or nothing at all”, there was an overwhelming feeling of unity. No matter where we all came from, or our track record per say, we all came together as one voice to proclaim these extremely powerful truths through worship. As someone that gravitates toward worship and worship ministry, connecting with the songs was an even more powerful way to wrap up the session. To watch as other people being drawn to faith for the first time is something that was very impactful to watch, and it makes me take joy in knowing that more people have been brought to faith this week.

To end the night on a fun note, CIY has a big talent show of sorts called the Alternative, and many of us went down to watch many people participate in the event which was very entertaining, to say the least.

I look forward to finishing up the rest of this already amazing week with my brothers and sisters in Christ walking beside me, and enjoying the time in this town with these people that I am very blessed to have in my life.